Grieving relatives are putting their safety at risk by visiting graves in a churchyard deemed unsafe for maintenance volunteers.

All Saints Churchyard extension on Gospel End Road in Sedgley is home to thousands of graves including war graves and members of leading industrial families from the region dating back to the 1800s.

Around a quarter of the site is now off-limits for volunteers who work to keep the site accessible after they agreed a maintenance plan with Dudley Council which means they will not operate in designated areas.

Despite a publicity campaign members of the public are still accessing the area, which is home to badgers that dig tunnels under the site, to tend the graves of loved ones.

Phil Rhodes, founder and chairman of the Friends of All Saints Graveyard group, said: “I wouldn’t go down there and wouldn’t expect any other volunteers to either.

“There are a few graves which the badgers have opened up and you can fall into them. There are two paths that access it and the public are still putting their own memorials on there.

“When you walk down the path and look over you see fresh memorials so somebody is still tending their own graves.”

The council is planning to erect a plaque on the site so visitors can remember the service personnel buried in seven war graves located in the no-go zone.

Councillor Damian Corfield, Dudley cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “There has been significant badger activity and some parts of the closed graveyard have been taken back by nature. 

“The council is responsible for the management of the maintenance of the churchyard but cannot prevent access to any part of it. It isn’t feasible to carry out work to stabilise the ground as this would likely disturb graves and badger tunnels and setts.

“The council has taken all reasonable and practicable steps, working with the community to maintain as much access as possible to graves, whilst exploring options for commemoration of the fallen heroes who were laid to rest.”